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A question I received: I searched your name in Google and found an article about two people who studied Kabbalah at “Beit Kabbalah L’Am” and then dropped out of the classes. They said that it looks good at the beginning – free classes and free everything, but later you’re forced to pay 20% of your income – 10% for Maaser and 10% for books. They also said that you brainwash people, and that you told the husband to leave his wife and to get another one – someone you will introduce him to. What do you say to this?

My Answer: I say that there are many scoundrels in the world, and out of the 2,000,000 students studying with me, two of them happened to be this way. He’s Catholic and she’s Jewish. They lived in India and did drugs and all kinds of mysticisms for many years. He tried to find himself with us, but didn’t succeed because she was against it. And they aren’t married, by the way. When I saw her, I told him straight out, “Leave her or leave Kabbalah.”

Everything else they wrote about us are lies. Kabbalah’s enemies managed to find this couple, who agreed to talk about us this way. This story is already seven or eight years old.

So far our Kabbalah Academy is spreading and growing, and this is what matters. The entire world opposes Kabbalah, so you shouldn’t be surprised at how many opponents we have. I completely understand this and I don’t take their hatred personally. I see the hand of the Creator in it, according to the principle: “Go to the Pharaoh because I have hardened his heart.”

If I paid attention to the opponents personally, then I wouldn’t accomplish anything in my life. I understand the game that the evil forces are playing with me, and I don’t leave any room for them in my heart and mind – and without it, they die.

Life goes on and it’s in our favor! There are still many wars ahead of us, but all these wars aren’t against us – they are wars of man against himself, his nature.

The only things coming from outside that I pay attention to are comments about how I disseminate (but not about the meaning of the dissemination), in order to learn how to create a better external appearance for our material, to make it more suitable for people’s preferences and habits, so that its external form will attract people instead of pushing them away. And I’m trying to simplify the inner content as much as possible.

There’s no doubt that Kabbalah is repulsive to man’s nature and it will still scare many people away, and many will be intimidated by it. This is a battle of the ages – the battle between the Creator and Amalek, but its victorious finish can already be seen.

Two questions I received on why people sometimes stray from the right path and what to do when it happens to you

Question: Why do people sometimes drop out of the group? Do they leave on their own, or does the group somehow influence them to make them leave?

My Answer: One’s only freedom is to participate in the group. If one does this, then he advances toward the Creator, and if he doesn’t – then he leaves the group. However, it’s also possible that a person isn’t given the freedom to participate in the group, but rather, he simply exists in it. Our archive contains many talks on this topic. In the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” items 3 and 4, Baal HaSulam writes that the Creator brings a person to the group and teacher, and his freedom of will then lies in strengthening his connection with them. But if a person’s desire for the purpose of life isn’t ripe yet, then he leaves or “wanders away” from the group.

Question: Dear Rav, suppose that a student was in the group, he really advanced and understood the inner part of the study, and raised a MAN, but then he fell into the state, “His wisdom exceeded his actions.” Can he still regain the property of “faith above reason” and the skills needed for spiritual work, get back on the path, and cross the Machsom?

My Answer: Don’t despair – the path is available to everyone. This student should continue advancing from the state he is in, but he should advance toward the goal honestly, rather than through deceit. (You got it!?)

Here is some guidance on how to read the Torah chapter summaries posted on this blog:

The Torah lays out the foundation of the theory and practice of attaining spiritual life. Neither Adam nor Abraham received the full method of attaining the Creator; only Moses did. All other texts are commentaries, that is, other ways of describing the attainment of the Creator or descriptions of partial attainment of Him.

Torah comes from the words Ohr – Light, and Ora’a – instructions. It is written in the Language of Branches, which names spiritual forces by the things they produce in our world. So even though we think that it’s describing our world, it’s actually describing spiritual forces, since in the spiritual world there are only forces without matter.

Why do we need these descriptions of the Upper World?

1. So that by reading them, we will evoke the influence of the Correcting Light (Ohr Makif) on us.

2. So that after we correct ourselves by the Light, we will then be filled by It to the degree we’re corrected.

If it weren’t for this method, we would remain on the animate level of existence forever. We wouldn’t be able to reach the level of eternity, perfection, and equivalence to the Creator.

The Language of Branches (which describes the Upper Forces with the help of their results or branches) has four modifications, or in other words, there are four languages of branches:

1. The language of Tanach – historical narration, like the one used in the Torah chapter summaries posted on this blog;

2. The language of Halacha – laws;

3. The language of Hagadot – legends;

4. The language of Kabbalah – this language is closest to the spiritual roots and the most precise of all the languages. For more on this, See Baal HaSulam’s article, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah.”

My suggestion: As you read the Torah, start imagining that it’s talking about egoism, the desire that has to be corrected, so that instead of being used for the sake of oneself, it will be used for the benefit of one’s neighbor (or the Creator, which is the same thing); and this correction happens gradually, in parts. Everything divides into the force of bestowal (the Creator) and the force of reception (the creation). The part of creation that’s corrected or undergoing correction is called Israel (Isra-El – straight to the Creator). It also has parts called people, rulers, slaves (of desires), overseers (of correction), Levites, Kohens, and so on. Check yourself to see how much you’re able to discern actions of forces that govern our world behind the “theatrical” scenes you read.